Charlet gasped. "I will become the Queen of England?"
Anna nodded. "You are first in line. The king believes his nephew is the one trying to kill you. The nephew is second in line to the throne."
Clean and once again clothed in a MacGreagor plaid, Charlet sat by the fire and let Anna brush her long red hair dry. She closed her eyes and tried to absorb all that Anna told her. "The nephew will not give up until I am dead, will he."
"I have come to the same conclusion."
"But after I marry Blair..."
Anna stopped brushing. "It would seem to be the answer, but husbands die and if Blair..."
"Do not say it, Anna; I could not live without him."
"I feel the same way about Kevin. But sweetheart, what if someone decides you would make a better sovereign than the king's nephew? Someone could kill Blair to free you from your ties to the Highlands."
"So Blair is in danger because of me. Even all of you are in danger because of me. I am sick at heart. I am only sixteen, Anna, why has this happened to me?"
Anna went back to brushing her hair. "I do not know."
"Is there nothing I can do?"
"I can think of only one thing and I pray we do not have to kill a lad to do it."
"Have you ever killed a lad?"
"Not yet, but deep down inside I am furious enough to."
*
Blair promised Charlet he would return the next day, after the noon meal, and he was right on time. His hair was washed, his clothes were clean and even his horse had suffered a bath. Kevin stood on the landing and waited until Blair dismounted, handed his reins to a waiting boy and climbed the steps. Then Kevin nodded. The boy raced to get the horse into the stable, the drawbridge began to rise and a guard of ten MacGreagors ran across the courtyard to face Blair.
Blair glared at Kevin.
"I would tell you this inside, but I fear you will break everything and everyone in it. Charlet is gone."
On the outside, he was calm and collected, but on the inside, he was a raging bull screaming to get out. "Gone where?"
"I cannot tell you."
"Tell me this, has she married another lad?"
"Nay, she loves you and she will come back...I hope."
"Why can you not tell me where she is?"
Kevin puffed his cheeks. "Because you will go after her and she does not want you to stop her."
Blair closed his eyes. "She has gone to England."